Gerald Schwank
Group Leader
Gerald Schwank was a graduate student in Konrad Basler’s lab at the University of Zurich, where he obtained his Ph.D. in 2009. As a postdoctoral fellow he joined the team of Hans Clevers at the Hubrecht Institute, where he established genome editing approaches in adult stem cell systems. Soon after, he started his own lab at ETH Zurich. While initially his team was dedicated to the establishment of genetic tools to study human disease mechanisms in stem cells and organoids, more recently they have focused on the development of in vivo genome editing approaches to cure monogenic diseases. In 2020 the Schwank lab has moved to the University of Zurich, where they continue to pursue their goal of generating novel genome editors and translating these technologies from bench to bedside.
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Tatjana Haenggi
Lab Manager
Tatjana received her PhD from the UZH in 2004. In order to see more of Europe, she moved to London to work as a post-doc at the University College London. Her project focused on a gene therapeutic approach for seizure suppression in a rat model of focal neocortical epilepsy using HSV vectors expressing galanin. In 2019, she joined the Schwank group as a lab manager. In her free time, she enjoys the company of her husband and her two teenage sons.
Read moreOlga von Niederhäusern
Administrative Assistant
In Vivo Genome Editing:
Péter KulcsárPostDocPéter received his PhD from the Multidisciplinary Medical Doctoral School of the University of Szeged, Hungary in 2019. He worked in the laboratory of Dr. Ervin Welker at the Institute Enzymology of the Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary. He increased the applicability of high-fidelity SpCas9 variants by developing and characterising novel ones. Peter joined the Schwank lab in May 2023 and focuses on developing more efficient in vivo genome editing tools. His work is supported by the URPP Human Reproduction Reloaded Project (H2R).Read moreAndrás TálasPostDocAndrás received his PhD in Molecular Biology (Semmelweis University, Hungary) in 2021, working in the lab of Dr. Ervin Welker at the Research Centre for Natural Sciences in Budapest. During his PhD, András developed methods and approaches to increase and predict the efficiency of gene-editing enzymes. He joined the Schwank lab in April 2023, where he focuses on the development of next-generation genome engineering tools with directed evolution for the treatment of genetic diseases in vivo.Read moreLucas KisslingPhD StudentLucas received his Master's degree in Interdisciplinary Science (Department of Chemistry and Applied Bioscience) from ETH Zurich in 2020, where he joined the Laboratory of Jacob Corn for his Master thesis. In May 2020 he started his PhD in our group, where he will mostly work on in vivo modeling of disease mutations together with developing new base-editor tools.Read moreElina VilligerPhD StudentElina joined the Schwank lab for her Master's thesis in January 2023 and received her Master's degree in Biomedicine at the University of Zurich in 2024. In March 2024, she started her PhD in our group, where she will primarily focus on the improvement of novel genome editing tools to efficiently apply them for therapeutic gene-correction approaches in vivo.Read more
Péter Kulcsár
PostDoc
Péter received his PhD from the Multidisciplinary Medical Doctoral School of the University of Szeged, Hungary in 2019. He worked in the laboratory of Dr. Ervin Welker at the Institute Enzymology of the Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary. He increased the applicability of high-fidelity SpCas9 variants by developing and characterising novel ones. Peter joined the Schwank lab in May 2023 and focuses on developing more efficient in vivo genome editing tools. His work is supported by the URPP Human Reproduction Reloaded Project (H2R).
Read moreAndrás Tálas
PostDoc
András received his PhD in Molecular Biology (Semmelweis University, Hungary) in 2021, working in the lab of Dr. Ervin Welker at the Research Centre for Natural Sciences in Budapest. During his PhD, András developed methods and approaches to increase and predict the efficiency of gene-editing enzymes. He joined the Schwank lab in April 2023, where he focuses on the development of next-generation genome engineering tools with directed evolution for the treatment of genetic diseases in vivo.
Read moreLucas Kissling
PhD Student
Lucas received his Master's degree in Interdisciplinary Science (Department of Chemistry and Applied Bioscience) from ETH Zurich in 2020, where he joined the Laboratory of Jacob Corn for his Master thesis. In May 2020 he started his PhD in our group, where he will mostly work on in vivo modeling of disease mutations together with developing new base-editor tools.
Read moreElina Villiger
PhD Student
Elina joined the Schwank lab for her Master's thesis in January 2023 and received her Master's degree in Biomedicine at the University of Zurich in 2024. In March 2024, she started her PhD in our group, where she will primarily focus on the improvement of novel genome editing tools to efficiently apply them for therapeutic gene-correction approaches in vivo.
Read moreGenomics / Tool Development:
Kim MarquartPostDocKim received his Master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology from the University of Ulm in 2018. He conducted his Master thesis work at the Novo Nordisk Foundation (Copenhagen, Denmark) in the group of Helene Faustrup Kildegaard. Before joining our group as a PhD student in May 2019, Kim gained insights into the industry at Boehringer Ingelheim (Biberach, Germany) and Novartis (Basel, Switzerland). His PhD projects focused on the systematic, high-throughput characterization of RNA-guided, programmable genome editors, i.e., CRISPR-Cas9 base editors and pre-CRISPR transposon encoded endonucleases (TnpB). Currently, he continues his work on safe and precise genome editing tools using directed protein evolution and HT-characterization in human cells. Read moreNicolas MathisPostDocNicolas received his PhD in the Schwank Lab in April 2024, which focused on the improvement of prime editing efficiency through high-throughput screening and machine learning approaches. Currently he is pursuing his work on predicting gene editing outcomes as a PostDoc in the lab.Read moreLukas SchmidheiniPostDocLukas received his PhD degree from our lab at the end of 2023, in which he developed gene-editing tools with directed evolution techniques (mainly PACE). Since he could not let go of his exciting research, he stayed in our group as a PostDoc working on further exciting projects in the genome editing field.Read moreEleonora IoannidiPhD StudentEleonora joined the Schwank lab in January 2021 as part of the URPP Human Reproduction Reloaded Project | H2R. Before, she conducted her master’s thesis (Biotechnology, ETHZ) at the Abudayyeh-Gootenberg lab at MIT in Boston, focusing on novel viral gene delivery systems and prime editing. Her PhD involves research on the capabilities and applications of new genome editing methods such as prime editing. Read more
Saphira MüllerPhD StudentKostas StiklioraitisPhD StudentKostas received his Master’s degree in Biotechnology from ETH Zurich in 2023. Before joining our group, Kostas carried out his master’s thesis in the lab of Prof. Le Cong at Stanford university focusing on CRISPR activation screens, and gained industry experience as a Bioinformatics Intern at Novartis. His PhD project will explore the intersection between computational and experimental approaches to improve current gene-editing tools. Read morePriscilla WangPhD StudentPriscilla received her Master’s degree in Molecular Genetics from the University of Toronto, working in the laboratories of Alan Davidson and Sachdev Sidhu. Before joining our group, Priscilla gained insight into industry as a Senior Research Associate in Gene Editing Research at Vertex (Boston). Her PhD project aims to improve gene-editing tools with a focus on protein engineering and directed evolution.Read moreYanik WeberPhD StudentYanik received his Master’s degree in Nanosciences from the University of Basel in 2020. After two projects in the laboratory of Michael Nash and Florian Hollfelder, he joined the group of Mustafa Khammash for his Master thesis to work on the directed evolution of optogenetic regulators. His PhD project involves the improvement of gene-editing tools through directed evolution.Read moreNaomi CantosResearch AssistantNaomi received her Master's degree in Biotechnology from ETH Zürich (Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, D-BSSE) in 2024. She completed her Master’s thesis in the laboratory of Prof. Jacob Corn (Corn Lab), focusing on a high-throughput and automatable method for detecting CRISPR/Cas9 off-target sites. In October 2024, she joined the Schwank Lab, working with Kim, Lukas, and Sasha on the continuous directed evolution of genome editing tools.Read moreTao FangComputational BiologistTao received his Ph.D. in bioinformatics (UZH) with extensive experience in computational biology and data science. His research integrated high-throughput biological data with machine learning to uncover insights for disease diagnosis and treatment. He contributed to projects in drug toxicity prediction, biomarker discovery, and protein interaction predictions, working closely with interdisciplinary teams to address complex biological challenges. Driven by his passion for precision medicine and AI, Tao is now focusing on protein design and its applications in gene therapy—areas he views as pivotal to advancing modern healthcare. He looks forward to applying his expertise to these emerging challenges and contributing to cutting-edge projects in the field.Read moreSasha MelkonyanComputational BiologistComputer Scientist by training, Sasha became fascinated with the world of biology while working at Google. Following his newly discovered interest, he completed a M.Sc in computational biology at ETH and is now working on robotics-assisted protein evolution to create new therapies for genetic diseases. Read more
Kim Marquart
PostDoc
Kim received his Master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology from the University of Ulm in 2018. He conducted his Master thesis work at the Novo Nordisk Foundation (Copenhagen, Denmark) in the group of Helene Faustrup Kildegaard. Before joining our group as a PhD student in May 2019, Kim gained insights into the industry at Boehringer Ingelheim (Biberach, Germany) and Novartis (Basel, Switzerland). His PhD projects focused on the systematic, high-throughput characterization of RNA-guided, programmable genome editors, i.e., CRISPR-Cas9 base editors and pre-CRISPR transposon encoded endonucleases (TnpB). Currently, he continues his work on safe and precise genome editing tools using directed protein evolution and HT-characterization in human cells.
Read moreNicolas Mathis
PostDoc
Nicolas received his PhD in the Schwank Lab in April 2024, which focused on the improvement of prime editing efficiency through high-throughput screening and machine learning approaches. Currently he is pursuing his work on predicting gene editing outcomes as a PostDoc in the lab.
Read moreLukas Schmidheini
PostDoc
Lukas received his PhD degree from our lab at the end of 2023, in which he developed gene-editing tools with directed evolution techniques (mainly PACE). Since he could not let go of his exciting research, he stayed in our group as a PostDoc working on further exciting projects in the genome editing field.
Read moreEleonora Ioannidi
PhD Student
Eleonora joined the Schwank lab in January 2021 as part of the URPP Human Reproduction Reloaded Project | H2R. Before, she conducted her master’s thesis (Biotechnology, ETHZ) at the Abudayyeh-Gootenberg lab at MIT in Boston, focusing on novel viral gene delivery systems and prime editing. Her PhD involves research on the capabilities and applications of new genome editing methods such as prime editing.
Read moreSaphira Müller
PhD Student
Kostas Stiklioraitis
PhD Student
Kostas received his Master’s degree in Biotechnology from ETH Zurich in 2023. Before joining our group, Kostas carried out his master’s thesis in the lab of Prof. Le Cong at Stanford university focusing on CRISPR activation screens, and gained industry experience as a Bioinformatics Intern at Novartis. His PhD project will explore the intersection between computational and experimental approaches to improve current gene-editing tools.
Read morePriscilla Wang
PhD Student
Priscilla received her Master’s degree in Molecular Genetics from the University of Toronto, working in the laboratories of Alan Davidson and Sachdev Sidhu. Before joining our group, Priscilla gained insight into industry as a Senior Research Associate in Gene Editing Research at Vertex (Boston). Her PhD project aims to improve gene-editing tools with a focus on protein engineering and directed evolution.
Read moreYanik Weber
PhD Student
Yanik received his Master’s degree in Nanosciences from the University of Basel in 2020. After two projects in the laboratory of Michael Nash and Florian Hollfelder, he joined the group of Mustafa Khammash for his Master thesis to work on the directed evolution of optogenetic regulators. His PhD project involves the improvement of gene-editing tools through directed evolution.
Read moreNaomi Cantos
Research Assistant
Naomi received her Master's degree in Biotechnology from ETH Zürich (Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, D-BSSE) in 2024. She completed her Master’s thesis in the laboratory of Prof. Jacob Corn (Corn Lab), focusing on a high-throughput and automatable method for detecting CRISPR/Cas9 off-target sites. In October 2024, she joined the Schwank Lab, working with Kim, Lukas, and Sasha on the continuous directed evolution of genome editing tools.
Read moreTao Fang
Computational Biologist
Tao received his Ph.D. in bioinformatics (UZH) with extensive experience in computational biology and data science. His research integrated high-throughput biological data with machine learning to uncover insights for disease diagnosis and treatment. He contributed to projects in drug toxicity prediction, biomarker discovery, and protein interaction predictions, working closely with interdisciplinary teams to address complex biological challenges. Driven by his passion for precision medicine and AI, Tao is now focusing on protein design and its applications in gene therapy—areas he views as pivotal to advancing modern healthcare. He looks forward to applying his expertise to these emerging challenges and contributing to cutting-edge projects in the field.
Read moreSasha Melkonyan
Computational Biologist
Computer Scientist by training, Sasha became fascinated with the world of biology while working at Google. Following his newly discovered interest, he completed a M.Sc in computational biology at ETH and is now working on robotics-assisted protein evolution to create new therapies for genetic diseases.
Read moreCAR-T / Delivery:
Andreas ReichmuthUZH Entrepreneur FellowAfter having worked on the first Lipid Nanoparticle encapsulated mRNA vaccines in the Langer Lab at MIT (2015), Andreas joined the group of Prof. Voros at ETH for his PhD (2016-2021). During his PhD, Andreas co-develop a novel biosensor platform themed ‘focal molography’. His work resulted in 4 patents and was fundamental for the foundation of the ETH spin-off Lino Biotech. In 2021, Andreas performed a first Postdoc in the laboratory of mRNA pioneer Dr. Steve Pascolo where he worked on trans-amplifying mRNA circular mRNA. Andreas joined our group in 2023. His work focuses on the targeted delivery of mRNA-encoded base- and prime editors using Lipid Nanoparticles.Read moreSara FerreiraPhD StudentSara received her master’s degree in Health Sciences in 2021 from the University of Minho, working in immunometabolism and infectious diseases. Afterwards, she worked as a scientific associate in pharmacology immunology at Idorsia Pharmaceuticals, Basel. Currently she is a PhD student in the Schwank lab working on LNP delivery to immune cells and CAR cell therapies.Read more
Andreas Reichmuth
UZH Entrepreneur Fellow
After having worked on the first Lipid Nanoparticle encapsulated mRNA vaccines in the Langer Lab at MIT (2015), Andreas joined the group of Prof. Voros at ETH for his PhD (2016-2021). During his PhD, Andreas co-develop a novel biosensor platform themed ‘focal molography’. His work resulted in 4 patents and was fundamental for the foundation of the ETH spin-off Lino Biotech. In 2021, Andreas performed a first Postdoc in the laboratory of mRNA pioneer Dr. Steve Pascolo where he worked on trans-amplifying mRNA circular mRNA. Andreas joined our group in 2023. His work focuses on the targeted delivery of mRNA-encoded base- and prime editors using Lipid Nanoparticles.
Read moreSara Ferreira
PhD Student
Sara received her master’s degree in Health Sciences in 2021 from the University of Minho, working in immunometabolism and infectious diseases. Afterwards, she worked as a scientific associate in pharmacology immunology at Idorsia Pharmaceuticals, Basel. Currently she is a PhD student in the Schwank lab working on LNP delivery to immune cells and CAR cell therapies.
Read moreMaster Students:
Silvan EstermannMaster StudentSilvan is enrolled in the Molecular and Cellular Biology master’s program at the University of Zurich. He joined the Schwank lab in January 2024 for his Master thesis and is working together with Andreas and Yanik on the directed evolution of RNA for in-patient CAR T-cell generation.Read moreCharles GuillainMaster StudentCharles is enrolled in the MSc program in Biomedicine at the University of Zurich. He joined the Schwank lab in September 2024 for his master thesis and is working with Lukas on the directed evolution of novel genome editing tools.Read moreMeike JahnMaster StudentMeike is enrolled in molecular biotechnology at the Technical University of Munich. She joined the lab in October 2024 for her Master's thesis and is working together with Andreas, Sara and Yanik to discover novel receptor combinations to advance CAR-T cell therapy for solid tumors.Read more
Silvan Estermann
Master Student
Silvan is enrolled in the Molecular and Cellular Biology master’s program at the University of Zurich. He joined the Schwank lab in January 2024 for his Master thesis and is working together with Andreas and Yanik on the directed evolution of RNA for in-patient CAR T-cell generation.
Read moreCharles Guillain
Master Student
Charles is enrolled in the MSc program in Biomedicine at the University of Zurich. He joined the Schwank lab in September 2024 for his master thesis and is working with Lukas on the directed evolution of novel genome editing tools.
Read moreMeike Jahn
Master Student
Meike is enrolled in molecular biotechnology at the Technical University of Munich. She joined the lab in October 2024 for her Master's thesis and is working together with Andreas, Sara and Yanik to discover novel receptor combinations to advance CAR-T cell therapy for solid tumors.
Read moreAlumni:
Desirée BöckPostDocVittorio SandriMaster StudentCornelia SchwerdelResearch TechnicianJonas MumenthalerMaster StudentSharan JanjuhaPostDocTanja RothganglPhD StudentClaire ChabotResearch AssociateTanav DamodharanMaster StudentLisa TidecksMaster StudentSebastian JossiMaster StudentPatrik SimmlerPhD StudentElena BenvenutoMaster StudentCristina SolariMaster StudentNina FreyPhD StudentMartina HruzovaPostDocTamara MengisMaster StudentSabina EgliResearch TechnicianLukas VilligerPhD StudentNoëlle BakkerMaster StudentChristian HirtPostDocTill RingelPhD StudentNatasa SavicPostDocLuca IsenmannResearch AssociateFemke RingnaldaResearch Technician
Desirée Böck
PostDoc
Vittorio Sandri
Master Student
Cornelia Schwerdel
Research Technician
Jonas Mumenthaler
Master Student
Sharan Janjuha
PostDoc
Tanja Rothgangl
PhD Student
Claire Chabot
Research Associate
Tanav Damodharan
Master Student
Lisa Tidecks
Master Student
Sebastian Jossi
Master Student
Patrik Simmler
PhD Student
Elena Benvenuto
Master Student
Cristina Solari
Master Student
Nina Frey
PhD Student
Martina Hruzova
PostDoc
Tamara Mengis
Master Student
Sabina Egli
Research Technician
Lukas Villiger
PhD Student
Noëlle Bakker
Master Student
Christian Hirt
PostDoc
Till Ringel
PhD Student
Natasa Savic
PostDoc
Luca Isenmann
Research Associate
Femke Ringnalda
Research Technician